The fastest legal remedy for an unauthorized occupant in a Florida rental is the sheriff removal process created by HB 621 in 2024 and codified at Fla. Stat. 82.036. You file a verified complaint with the county sheriff, and if the statutory conditions are met the sheriff serves a notice to immediately vacate and puts you back in possession, without a court case.
The important limit: it only works for people who were never your tenant. A holdover tenant still requires a Chapter 83 eviction. That distinction decides which path you are on, so get it right before you file anything.
The sheriff removal process, step by step
CS/CS/HB 621 was signed March 27, 2024 and took effect July 1, 2024, creating s. 82.036, Fla. Stat.
You submit a verified complaint to the sheriff of the county where the property sits, under penalty of perjury, attesting to all of the following:
1. You are the property owner or an authorized agent of the owner.
2. The real property being occupied includes a residential dwelling.
3. An unauthorized person or persons have unlawfully entered and remain or continue to reside on the property.
4. The property was not open to members of the public when they entered.
5. You have directed the unauthorized person to leave.
6. They are not current or former tenants under a written or oral rental agreement authorized by you.
7. They are not immediate family members of the owner.
8. There is no pending litigation about the property between you and any known unauthorized person.
If the sheriff verifies the complaint, the statute says the sheriff "shall, without delay, serve a notice to immediately vacate on all the unlawful occupants and shall put the owner in possession of the real property."
Two cost notes. The sheriff is entitled to the same fee as for serving a writ of possession, and if you want an officer to stand by while you change the locks, that is billed at a reasonable hourly rate set by the sheriff.
Do not file this loosely. A person removed under this procedure may bring an action against you and recover actual costs and damages, statutory damages equal to triple the fair market rent of the dwelling, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees. If there is any argument the occupant was ever a tenant, use the eviction process instead and talk to an attorney first.
Our Florida landlord-tenant law guide covers the eviction path for actual tenants.
Register a trespass authorization with your sheriff
This is the step that turns a vacant property from a judgment call into a clear one, and almost nobody does it.
Most Florida sheriff's offices accept a trespass authorization, sometimes called a trespass affidavit or a no-trespass agreement, from a property owner. You file it for the specific address and it authorizes deputies to act on trespass at that property without having to reach you first for permission.
Why it is worth the paperwork: at 2 a.m., a deputy responding to a call at a vacant house has to establish whether anyone present has permission to be there. With an authorization on file, that question is already answered. Without one, the default is often to leave and tell you to follow up during business hours, which is how an overnight trespass becomes a weeks-long occupancy.
Call the non-emergency line for the sheriff's office covering the property, ask for the trespass authorization form, and renew it when it expires. Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk and Manatee each handle it slightly differently, so ask about that specific county.
Cameras: what actually works on a vacant property
The problem with a vacant rental is that there is no internet and often no power. That rules out most consumer cameras, which assume both.
| Option | How it powers and connects | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cellular trail camera | Batteries plus a cellular data plan | Driveways, entry points, long vacancies with no utilities | Still images or short clips, not live view. Data plan is a monthly cost. Battery life drops in heat |
| Solar 4G camera | Solar panel plus battery, cellular data | Longer vacancies where you want live view and no battery swaps | Needs real sun exposure. A north-facing install under a tree will not keep up. Panels get stolen if mounted low |
| Wi-Fi camera on a hotspot | AC power plus a cellular hotspot | Properties with power on, shorter vacancies | Two failure points instead of one. A hotspot reboot loop means no coverage and no alert that you lost coverage |
My practical advice: if the power is off, use cellular or solar cellular. Do not try to make a Wi-Fi camera work with no power. If the power is on, a hotspot plus a wired camera is cheaper and gives you live view, but set up an alert for when the camera goes offline, because silent failure is the real risk.
Whatever you choose, mount it high enough to be inconvenient to reach, point one camera at the primary door and one at the driveway, and confirm you are actually getting notifications on your phone before you leave the property.
Signage, entry points and utilities
Signage. Post no trespassing signage at the property. It is cheap, and it matters because it removes the argument that someone believed they had permission to be there. It also supports the statutory condition that the property was not open to the public.
Entry points. This is unglamorous and it is most of the actual protection:
- Re-key every exterior lock between tenants. Not just the front door.
- Secure the sliding doors. A security bar or a pin in the track defeats the most common forced entry on Florida rentals.
- Check the garage. A garage with an opener and no interior deadbolt on the house door is a soft spot. Unplug the opener and lock the interior door.
- Secure windows, especially bathroom and rear windows out of street view.
- Install a lockbox you control, and account for every key. The most common unauthorized entry is not forced at all, it is a key someone still has.
Utilities. Keep power and water on. Owners want to shut them off to save money, and it backfires. Without power you have no cameras, no alarm, and no air conditioning, and in Florida a closed-up house with no AC grows mold in weeks. Without water you cannot have anything inspected or shown. Keeping utilities on is also evidence the property is actively maintained rather than abandoned.
The insurance clause owners miss
Read your policy's vacancy provision before the house sits empty.
Most homeowners and landlord policies restrict or suspend coverage once a property has been vacant for a set period, commonly 30 or 60 consecutive days. Vandalism, theft and water damage are usually the first coverages to go. So the exact risks that rise when a property is empty are often the ones your policy stops covering while it is empty.
Call your agent before the vacancy starts and ask for a vacancy permit endorsement or a vacant dwelling policy. It costs more. It costs dramatically less than an uncovered vandalism loss. And mention any period the property was already vacant, because a claim denial based on a vacancy clause is a bad way to learn the term was 30 days rather than 60.
The practical checklist
Work it in this order:
1. Re-key all exterior locks and account for every key.
2. Secure sliders, garage and rear windows.
3. Post no trespassing signage.
4. File a trespass authorization with the county sheriff.
5. Keep power and water on.
6. Install cellular or solar cellular cameras at the door and driveway, and verify alerts on your phone.
7. Call your insurance agent about a vacancy endorsement.
8. Have someone physically check the property weekly, inside and out.
9. Keep the lawn maintained and the mail stopped. A property that looks watched is a property that gets skipped.
Step 8 is the one people drop first and the one that catches problems while they are still small. Our preventive maintenance guide covers what to look for on those walkthroughs.
How we handle vacant properties
For the properties we manage, a vacancy means weekly physical inspection, utilities stay on, locks get re-keyed between tenants as standard practice, and the goal is to keep the vacancy short in the first place, because an occupied property with a screened tenant is the best squatter prevention there is.
Get a rental analysis if you have a property sitting empty, or see what full management includes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove a squatter in Florida?
Use the sheriff removal process under Fla. Stat. 82.036, created by HB 621 in 2024. File a verified complaint with the county sheriff attesting to eight conditions, including that the occupant was never a tenant and is not an immediate family member. If verified, the sheriff serves a notice to immediately vacate and restores possession without a court case. Anyone who was ever a tenant requires a Chapter 83 eviction instead.
Does the 2024 Florida squatter law work on a former tenant?
No. The process explicitly requires that the unauthorized persons are not current or former tenants under a written or oral rental agreement authorized by the owner. A holdover tenant, or anyone you ever rented to, must be removed through eviction. Filing a sheriff complaint against a former tenant exposes you to damages of triple the fair market rent plus costs and attorney fees.
What is a trespass authorization and do I need one?
It is a form filed with your county sheriff authorizing deputies to enforce trespass at a specific address without contacting you first for permission. For a vacant rental it is worth the paperwork, because it lets a deputy responding at night act immediately rather than deferring until they can reach the owner. Each sheriff's office handles the form slightly differently, so ask the one covering your property.
What kind of camera works on a property with no power?
A cellular trail camera running on batteries, or a solar 4G camera, since both avoid needing AC power and local Wi-Fi. Trail cameras send still images or short clips rather than live video. Solar cameras give live view but need genuine sun exposure to keep up. A Wi-Fi camera on a hotspot needs power and adds a second failure point.
Does my insurance cover a vacant rental property?
Often not fully. Most homeowners and landlord policies restrict or suspend coverage once a property has been vacant for a set period, commonly 30 or 60 consecutive days, and vandalism, theft and water damage are typically the first to go. Ask your agent for a vacancy permit endorsement or a vacant dwelling policy before the vacancy begins.
Sources
- Fla. Stat. 82.036, Removal of unauthorized persons from residential real property, for the eight complaint conditions, the sheriff's duty to serve a notice to immediately vacate without delay, the fee provisions, and the treble fair market rent damages for wrongful use.
- Florida Senate 2024 bill summary, CS/CS/HB 621, for the creation of s. 82.036 and the July 1, 2024 effective date.
- Fla. Stat. 95.16 and 95.18, adverse possession, which requires seven years of possession in Florida.
- Fla. Stat. ch. 83 part II, Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, for the eviction process that applies to actual tenants.
---
*Barrett Henry is the property manager behind ViVi Property Management, serving five Tampa Bay counties with 23+ years of real estate experience. This is general information, not legal advice. Removing an occupant has real legal risk if you pick the wrong process, so confirm your situation with a Florida attorney.*